Mockingjay: New Ending
by scrollproduction
Summary: This starts immediately after Prim dies. It is a simple, right and beautiful ending to a adventurous, marvelous series. I hope you enjoy. Please no silent readers! I would love some comments or reviews!
1. Surfacing

NOTE: This story takes place right after Prim dies. It is a simple, right, and beautiful ending to a crowded, marvelous series.

SURFACING

Love never falters, nor changes with the shifting wind of time. Love is true. Love is simple and beautiful and is worth living for. I know this because I have had the privilege of seeing it. Mother and father lay together; their arms intertwined. Behind them is a fire, a soft magnificent fire. Never have a seen one that looked so calm. Prim is on the floor beside it, playing with beaten up dolls. Everyone is so happy, including Buttercup, who lies next to Prim, her coat pristine.

Mother plays with father's beard, smiling at a small joke or amusing comment. Father looks back, finding me with his kind eyes. "Katniss what are you doing by the door? Come here." I follow his instructions. I have been waiting so long for him to say that. I sit next to father's warm body, edging into his strong chest. "I missed you papa," I said, placing my head on his chest.

"I missed you too darling," he said quietly. Prim looks at us, smiling. At that moment everything is perfect.

"Papa, is this a dream?" I ask, hoping the answer isn't true.

"I'm afraid so love." I start to feel tear welling up in my eyes. "Stay strong, for all of us," Papa said. "Stay true to who you are."

I look at his eyes, looking for something. "How can I stay true if I don't know who I am."

"Yes you do darling, all you need to do is accept it."

The two weeks after Prim died, I stayed in a room in the President's mansion, alone. Except, I wasn't really alone; I had all the company I wanted. When I was feeling particularly lonesome, Prim would always come to me. She would tell me all these magnificent stories. I would listen intently to her the sound of her voice and concentrate on her words. She would always surprise me by saying that the story was real, it actually happened.

"You can't live in the past anymore," she said to me.

"But that's all I got anymore."

"No it's not Katniss. You have a life still out in front of you. Stop feeling sorry for your self and live it." God she sounded like… like me. I was turning into my mother. I was turning into something I hated and didn't even notice. Sometimes, instead of Prim, Papa would appear. He wouldn't say much though; he would just lie beside me and stroke my hair. And sometimes, when you listened real close, he would sing. During those times I would close my eyes and concentrate on his voice, on his words, and on the meaning behind them. Soon enough I would catch myself singing along or humming his tune. And whenever I would open my eyes, it would be nighttime and Papa would be gone.

One day, Prim gave me her doll.

"What's this for?" I asked.

"For remembrance of course."

"What are you talking about? You are right here. You'll always be here." Then she bent down and grabbed my shoulders and looked strait in my eyes.

"Live for us. Live for all that have gone." Then, she was gone.

But something remained: a sense of… longing. A wanting to walk out of my lonely room and into the crooked world better than I entered it. And so I walked out of the room, closing the door on the past, and looking evermore forward to the future.


	2. Rooms

ROOMS

After Prim said those words to me, I began to search. Searching is a funny thing when you don't know what you're looking for because that's the time when you find something. I wish someone had told me that earlier. There are many rooms in this place. Rooms with velvet curtains and marble floors. Rooms lined with gold and silver plaiting and decorated with hand crafted designs. In one room there was a giant mural of an angel holding her baby. They looked beautiful together, the baby wrapped in his mother's wings. I had a feeling deep inside me to cry, because on earth they wouldn't look so pretty. Everything looks so much better in the clouds.

That mural reminded me of Peeta, who is the most talented artist I have ever known. I thought of his skillful wrist and his warm eyes. His dark hair and his fit build. I tried to envision how his mouth would move when he said my name, but got choked up and stopped. It hurt too much. One day I ventured further into a room of forgotten things. There were bathtubs and tables and boxes of picture frames, all sitting there covered in dust. I spent most of my day in there, sitting in some bathtub in the middle of the room. It was made of white porcelain, and it was cold to the touch.

Papa once told me that wildfires were good.

"Good?" I asked. He nodded his head. "How?"

"Because, that's how new things grow."

I thought he was crazy, but that was along time ago.

"Katniss." Some one was calling my name. "Katniss."

"What Gev?

"I'm sorry to disturb you. I know you're pretty busy." Gev is my guard. He's all right.

"What do you want Gev?"

"Two things really. The first: your mockingjay costume is here. Lets just say it's entertaining," Gev laughed.

"Come on man you just woke me up for this?" I was still lying in the bathtub for God sake.

"The _second_ thing is different," he explained.

"And what is that?" His face got real serious like.

"It's Snow. He wishes to speak to you."


	3. Feeling

FEELING

Gev led me to part of the mansion I haven't explored. He guided me to a closed door and stood there, waiting for something. I told him thanks and he nodded, but continued to stand beside the door and me. Then, I went in. The room was darker than the hall, and my eyes took their time to adjust. Finally I could make out a figure leaning against the wall in the far back of the room. I hardly hesitated.

"Hello there Katniss," Snow laughed, as if my name was some kind of inside joke. I made my way to a chair and brought it to where he laid. I sat down. "Are you ready? Are you ready to kill me?" He sounded amused. I looked at his eyes: they were dilated and yellow. He was wearing no shirt, and sweat was covering his chest. His hair was pulled out in some places. I could tell because blood occupied these bald cavities. I let him continue. "You think that you won don't you? You think that you won huh? Your wrong girl, everyone is wrong. No one can win," he whispered.

"Win what?"

He looked at me like he knew something I didn't. "Life. Do you know why the capitol completely _adores_ the games? Do you? It's not because we want to punish you or humiliate you. It's because we want to feel something. Everyone walks around doing their boring things, who are they watching?" He pointed his finger at me and leaned forward. "You. They're watching poor little children like you. We made you who you are Katniss, we made you the mockingjay. You are just the entertainment. Life is so boring! People would rather watch you die than clean their houses because when we watch you, we feeling something. And what is life without feeling?" I watched him closely.

"Insanity," I whispered. Snow laughed.

"Sure. You know when I was a boy; I asked my mother why people look so strange. They had blue skin, and gold hair. She told me that that was people's way of becoming individuals. Everyone looked different, but in the same way, everyone looked the same. Everyone looked ridiculous." Snow laid down on the floor, but his hands gripped the walls.

"What do you feel?" I whispered. He looked at me. "What do you feel now?" He hesitated, thinking.

"I feel… nothing. I feel nothing at all." Then, Snow started to cry. I nodded and got up from the chair. Before I exited the room, I said above the sound:

"I'll make sure you feel nothing." Then I opened the door, letting the light fall upon the darkness.


	4. All At Once

ALL AT ONCE

"How does it look?"

"What are you even supposed to be?"

"What the hell does it look like?"

"Um…"

"You're an idiot."

"Strange that's what my mother told me."

I give Gev the yeah-right-go-away look, but for some reason it doesn't work. It never works with Gev. I repeat my question of origin.

"You look beautiful." I snort and pulled my hair into a single braid. I grabbed my wooden bow and single arrow and look at Gev.

"Lets go."

We make our way around the mansion to the front grounds. It was a perfect day, the sun was shining and I could hear birds chirping. The front grounds was the entrance to the mansion, but consisted to a well planed out garden and winding walkways. Now, it also consisted of a stage. There were three parts to this stage: the balcony, where Coin and new officials would stand; the floor, where Snow would be; and the place in-between, where I would stand. Hundreds of people crowded the stage, as if a play would be taken place. The entertainment. Gev wished me luck and told me that it was time. I took my place. Coin made opening remarks:

"Hello, people of Panem! What a wonderful day it is! My people, today is the day that the old empire officially ends! The evil dictator responsible for our suffering, and our war is now in chains! Let us take deep breaths as he and all of our pain goes away!" People cheered below me; Snow was being lead out of his mansion to the stage. He had no shirt on still, and was covered in grime and dirt. The people were silent now, and made space for Snow and his guards to go through. Then chaos started. One man threw himself onto Snow, a spiked stick in his hand. Then everyone piled on, screaming and kicking and swearing all at once.

It was a massacre. The next few seconds I barely remember, but they somehow shaped my future and the ones I love. I had some way or another gotten to the balcony, I pushed past Peeta and Coin, and soon enough I was at the microphone, addressing the crowd.


	5. Freedom

FREEDOM

"Stop! Stop all of you! Why are you still fighting? Why are you still letting yourselves live in the past? If you think we have won you are gravely mistaken. All our lives we have lived behind electric fences. Once you get a chance to fly out, this is what you do? We are becoming the people we loathed. How are you different than that poor, little man beneath your feet? Do you feel better now? I'll tell you now that I am not going to let history repeat itself. I am not going to turn into him. When will you all realize that life's meaning isn't to die?

It's to live. It's to fly free and do what you want. It's to make a happy family, or splendid shop, or sell fancy clothes. Life is about love and simplicity, and once you get a chance to have it, why do you throw it away? I don't know what the future holds, but I promise you that it will be better than before. All you have to do is fly away from electric fence. Then, you will truly be free."

I stepped away from the microphone. At that moment, I wasn't thinking about Snow; I was thinking about me. I knew who I was, where I was going, and finally how I was getting there. Somehow at that moment, I felt my dreams lining up into place. I felt calm and present. I felt that I won. And I looked upon my people, who looked at me with their sad faces. They have been sad for so long.

During that moment I also noticed three things. The first: Snow was dead. He had died a painful death, and now covered the bottom of people's shoes and fists. He didn't even scream. The second was Coin. She was crying next to me. The third was Peeta, who was looking not at me, but into me somehow. When he looked into my eyes, he was searching my soul. What he had found was a lie to him. It's that at the same time Peeta understood me without the capitol's influence, he understood that we could never truly be together. For how can two exist when every moment of their presence is unbearable? We conversed later, in the place of discarded misfits.


	6. Intertwined

INTERTWINED

Before leaving the mansion, I ventured upon the room of undesirables again for the last time. I lay in the same porcelain bathtub that I did before, enjoying the silence. Some time later, it was broken.

"Katniss." Someone had called my name. I didn't answer because I wanted him to say it once more.

"Katniss, I don't know what to say."

"This is enough Peeta," I whispered. I felt him move forward from behind me; he crouched down and put his hands on my shoulders. His smooth, warm hands. "You know you don't have to do this Peeta. If it hurts you." His response wasn't with words, but with actions. He came into my view, and sat down across from me in the tub. Our legs touched each other's.

"I'm going crazy thinking about us and what we should have been," He started.

"It doesn't matter. Don't beat yourself up about what you could have never controlled."

"But I love you." I looked at him; he was smiling. A kind warm smile I haven't seen for the longest time.

"I love you too." I whispered back. He approached me slowly: he crouched forward, his hands gently gripping the sides of the tub; his broad shoulders relaxed and down. As he came forward, his eyes searched my body the way I searched his. Soon enough, he was inches away, his legs intertwined with mine. Then, he kissed me. It was a small kiss, but a kiss that was way over due.

"Is that alright?" He asked, his head resting on my shoulder. But I didn't need to respond. He started to kiss my shoulder and then my neck and soon enough I was kissing back. This time it was deep and intense and lovely and grand. We stared to laugh and forget as we kissed each other. I felt as if time had stopped and another life had begun. A life of passion and wonder and magic. This was how it was supposed to be, even if only for a few minutes.

I remember every second in that room, Peeta and I. We danced and kissed and made love to each other. When we got tired we feel asleep together. My head on resting on his chest; his powerful, strong chest. Our hands and feet were interwoven together, as if one. I listened to the perpetual undulations of Peeta's chest. Those waves took me to an endless beach of happiness. The inhabitants just Peeta and I. That was the first night I dreamed. I dreamed of a world Peeta and I would become one.


	7. Sun

SUN

The next day, Coin retired. She addressed her people saying that she was afraid that history would repeat itself, and that she wasn't the person to prevent that. It was the honest thing she had ever said. After she left, everyone turned to me. I had lead the revolution, why not the country? I immediately declined, saying that I didn't know anything about that sort of thing. The next week, I was able to finally visit District 12, my home.

There I found more memories than tangible objects. People rushed to move away the rubble and char. I walked to the place Prim, mother, and I called home, and searched for something take with me. I walked through the still standing doorframe to a pile of black dust. I searched for a couple of minutes until I found a doll. Prim's beaten up doll. I wiped the dust off the doll's face and held her close to me: to my heart. The sun started to set over the horizon. Bright reds and yellows turned into a faint blue and violet. They guarded the sun against unknown devils and warriors.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Papa asked beside me on the doorframe.

"What is?" I say sleepily.

"The sun."

"Yeah, it's sad though. Cause it's going away." Papa looked at me.

"The sun always comes back in the end. And once it does it spreads it's rays to every place in the world. No place is ever out of reach"


	8. Officials

(NOTE: CHANGE OF POINT OF VIEW)

OFFICIALS

"Miss Summers, what ever happened to them?"

Miss Summers looked at her students. The year was coming to a close and her students were getting more inquisitive by the day. Dedicating two weeks for the history of their country was a must, and was spent in detail every year. Miss Summers looked around her room. Colored shades filled the classroom with bright pinks and oranges. Twenty desks faced her in four perfect lines. Next to the clock was a picture of the first President of the new world, the one that shaped the way their world was formed.

"What a wonderful question. But let's see how much you learned through out this year. Let's start with an easy one: Haymitch." Ten hands shot up, and Miss Summers picked a boy in the third row. The boy stood up and pointed to the picture by the clock.

"That's him right there Miss." Miss Summers laughed.

"Yes Dov, can you elaborate?"

"I sure can. After Coin retired her position, President Haymitch volunteered to lead. At first people were very surprised because he was considered to be somewhat of a drunk." Other children in the class began to laugh. Miss Summers quieted them and nodded on. "But President Haymitch continued and made speeches all over the districts. Many people respected him because he knew and mentored the Mockingjay. Finally a committee made approved his position and he went on to do many good things for our country."

Miss Summers and the class applauded and the boy sat down. Miss Summers asked if anyone wanted to add anything.

"One of the best things President Haymitch did was rebuild the villages of the districts and made them all one. This unified the people and reunited people and food and clothing from everywhere, making the country more diverse." A girl in the first row said matter-of-factly.

"I heard President Haymitch never drank a single glass after the war." A boy in the seconded row said.

"I heard he sipped his drinks once every hour to ensure safety and to not anger his fellow committee." A boy in the last row challenged. Miss Summers hushed down the giggles that followed and continued.

"Very good class. Let's see, what about Gale Hawthorne?" She called on a girl closest to her.

"Mr. Hawthorne proved himself by bravely saving twenty citizens, in which four of them were inhabitance of the capitol. He was crowned head of the Department of War, and Weapons which was later disengaged by President Haymitch due to fear of further violence. Hawthorne's main job as the head of the department was to collect any type of bomb, and weapon in any district and bring it to the capitol. There he and Mr. Beetee would catalog and later destroy all of the bombs and most of the other weapons."

"Very good Philippa, but what happened after?" Miss Summers asked, a boy answered her.

"Hawthorne had made much money in the capitol and settled back in District 12 with a few of his siblings. He later married a very pretty woman and had five children. He made an excellent father. Hawthorne became a Government official by his great work in helping others set up houses and stores."

"Yes very good, you guys are know more about them than you thought, huh? Who wants to go next?" Fifthteen hands shot up.


	9. Sons, Shoes, and Surroundings

SONS, SHOES, AND SURROUNDINGS

"Mr. Beete, after the Department of War and Weapons was cut off, stayed in the capitol and advised President Haymitch. Beete would later return home in the place District 3 would have been," A boy in the last row said.

"Yes, Beete was very important in making the people familiarized with technology of the capitol," Explained Miss Summers, "How about Mrs. Cresta?" This question had taken some people back quite a bit. Finally a girl in the front answered.

"Cresta went back to District 4 and had a son. His name was Finn, after his father. I was told he looked exactly like him too. All Annie ever did was look after him, she was a great mother." Miss Summers nodded and continued:

"Delly Cartwright remained in District 12 and persisted that shoes were running absent in the new Republic. Her brother and her continued to make shoes, and then married a man who was as cheerful and enthusiastic as she. While her hero was Katniss, in the end she was the shining star that led people out of their depression to the real world.

She became a teacher and raised children abandon by the war. She was not able to have children, so she helped out anyone in need." Miss Summers looked around her class again. So much has happened in the last hundred years, and while everything was happy and well now, these children were learning to handle the lost generation. She often thought about the war and what it was like to be around back then and realized, simply, that she could not.

Next was one of the kids' favorites: Johanna Mason.

"Miss Mason never did overcome her fear of water, and spent most of her time safe on land in District 7. Johanna never did marry. Instead, she found love with her surroundings. She was one of the first to lead a brigade to explore the lands around the Republic. She was active and made maps and found friends from different lands and foreign jungles."

"She was last seen in the far plains of the South. Apparently she started walking and kept going. She said before departing that she needed to find something."

Miss Summers nodded. Somehow she knew that Johanna found it.


	10. Tangible

TANGIBLE

The class waited for Miss Summers to continue. They had been patient and quiet and were now waiting for the finally. Miss Summers knew the answer to her question before she even asked it:

"Does anyone know what happened to Peeta? Or perhaps Katniss maybe?"

Not a single hand. Miss Summers didn't fret though; she did this every year. She started by walking to the window; where she looked out of it as if preoccupied with something important.

"I have to beware you all though," she said, "for not every story has a happy ending." The children sat up straighter in their seats, waiting with deep anticipation. Miss Summers began as if history was a story.

"After Mr. Peeta Mellark heard Katniss speak at the Execution, he did not overcome his hijack. Instead, he did something scientists and doctors can never understand: he understood what he was. He understood he was something that he could never accept, something that went against everything he wanted. Peeta understood he was a weapon that was lodged into Katniss' heart, and he simply could not bear it.

And so he left immediately, for everything reminded him of Katniss. When he heard a bird sing, he heard of her; when he saw a strong animal, he thought of her; and when he caught the sight of a beautiful flower that crept out of the ashes, he saw her in his mind. He realized he could never go back to District 12, and so he inhabited a small, abandoned house at the edge of the new Republic; a place that was the farthest away from the love of his life."

Miss Summers stopped and looked outside again. She could feel the children waiting. One of them looked at her sadly.

"You mean he never saw her again? That's awfully sad," she said softly. Miss Summers shook her head.

"No darling, it's not sad. Peeta saw Katniss everyday, in his dreams and in his mind. One day Peeta got up and out of nowhere just started painting. He was the most beautiful painter in all of the lands. He drew thousands of this sad and happy. Every week, he would paint something for Katniss. He drew birds and silhouettes and nudes. Every week he would send them to her, and she would later send letters to him. It went on for years; they were the closest pen pals one could be. If you really love someone, and you never see them, you still know they're there."

The boys in the rooms shifted, uncomfortable with the change of topic. The girls in the room put their heads on their heads and sighed dreamily. Both still waiting for the Katniss' story to begin.


	11. Modesty

MODESTY

"Do you all know the story of the Artemis?" Miss Summers started. Many of the children shook their heads, allowing Miss Summers to continue. "Well, Artemis is a Greek goddess. She is the goddess of the hunt, childbirth, and wilderness among others. Homer refers to her as 'Artemis of the wild land, Mistress of Animals'. Artemis was a different type of goddess, one who carried a bow and arrow instead of looking beautiful and dancing.

"After Katniss returned to District 12, she walked deep into the forest by the meadow. This time, there was no fence to outlaw her. Instead, she walked freely, as if she was meant to do this, as if her movements were supposed to be. In the forest, Katniss built a beautiful log cabin, with a warm fireplace among the trees. She gave birth to a beautiful son, Peeta's son. He had his warm eyes, his broad shoulders, and his light hair. He looked just like his father.

"Katniss received Peeta's paintings and hung them not only in the cabin, but outside in the wild. She never married, for she was married to the outdoors, to the forest, to the deer, to the sun. Sometimes, Gale would meet her and they would hunt together. Katniss taught her son everything she knew, about the past, about the present. She let him dream about all the wonders to come. His name was Asher, which means the blessed one.

"They lived a simple, modest life. A life Katniss wished and always wanted. In my hands here, is one letter Katniss wrote to Peeta, do you all want to hear it?" Miss Summers asked. The children nodded their heads in unison. Miss Summers looked up at the clock; the bell was about to ring. When it did, none of the children budged an inch. Finally, Miss Summers spoke the words written for one and only person.


	12. Morning Dew

MORNING DEW

Dear Love,

I thought of you today as I walked through the meadow, the morning dew sparkling in the sun. When I called for Asher, who likes to wonder in front of me, he looked back at me suddenly; his blonde curls rustling in the light breeze. It's crazy but you and him are so alike: his favorite color is light orange, he always double knots his shoelaces, and he sleeps only with the windows open, even on the coldest of days.

Gale gave me the picture you sent. I hope you know that it is the nicest one you've made yet. Sometimes I think that the person holding the sunflower is you, but Asher thinks that the hand is me giving the flower to you. Anyway it was awfully nice. I feel bad sometimes that I cannot create such beautiful pieces like you. Asher told me that the sunflower was simple and precious and it's something you and I share and I think he's right. He's getting so smart.

I decided to plant some sunflowers for Asher to take care of. He stayed outside all day watching the dirt as he waited for it to grow. He told me one day that he saw a gnome go out of a tree. He swore he did. I nodded and told him not to bother them. He looked back with such disbelief it made me laugh right there and then. I told him that I once met one. I told him that gnomes are special because they are the only creatures that can talk to each other through their thoughts.

That a husband could be away for year and the wife would be fine because all they need is the slightest thought of them and they would be fine. I'm fine. When the sunflower grew, Asher went to the meadow and replanted it their. Sunflowers are funny because they always point in the direction of the sun. They never loose hope. Now, in the meadow, there is an abundance of sunflowers.

They mark the graves of the people who had fallen. Asher doesn't know about that now, but I'm sure he will. Peeta, I miss you every second of everyday, but when I look into Asher's eyes, I see your face. I see your broad shoulders, your smooth chest, your strong arms, your careful wrists, and your bright eyes. I see it all Peeta. I see you so clearly now, I hope you can see me too.

Yours,

Katniss

(NOTE: This is the ending. If you want me to continue with the letters from Katniss to Peeta, I will, but please comment if you do. Thanks)


End file.
